Crossing The Bridge: The Sound of Istanbul
by Fatih Akin
A European musician and composer, sets out to capture the musical diversity of Istanbul with his mobile recording studio to assemble an inspired portrait of Turkish music. His voyage leads to the discovery of a broad spectrum ranging from modern electronic, rock and hip-hop to classical “Arabesque”. CROSSING THE BRIDGE – THE SOUND OF ISTANBUL is a true crossover experience of both traditional and modern music where East meets West in the bustling Bosporus metropolis.
Fatih Akin is an internationally successful filmmaker.
With his film HEAD ON he won the Golden Bear in 2004. Before that, he had completed his film studies, two short films, a documentary about the migration of his parents from Turkey to Hamburg and three feature films. His next big international success was the drama THE EDGE OF HEAVEN (2007), which received the BEST SCRIPT award at the internationally renowned Cannes Film Festival, followed by the European Film Prize and the German Film Prize. His subsequent film SOUL KITCHEN (2009) won the SPECIAL AWARD OF THE JURY in competition at the Venice Film Festival. With his production company corazón international, founded in 2004, Akin produced, in addition to his own films, the internationally and nationally successful films CHIKO, TAKVA and MIN DÎT – DIYARBAKIR'S CHILDREN, among others.
In 2012 he founded the production company bombero international, which exclusively produces his own films. The first bombero production was THE CUT, which was filmed in 2013 and celebrated its world premiere in August 2014 in competition at the 71st International Film Festival in Venice. In 2016 IN THE FADE was filmed with Diane Kruger and Denis Moschitto in the leading roles. The world premiere took place in 2017 and the film received numerous awards, including the prize for best actress (Diane Kruger) in Cannes and the Golden Globe for best foreign language film. It was also selected as the German contribution for the Oscar 2018 and was nominated for the German Film Award in five categories, ultimately receiving awards in two categories.
The feature film THE GOLDEN GLOVE premiered in competition at the 2019 BERLINALE. RHINEGOLD, based on the biography of gangster rapper Xatar, starring BERLINALE 72's European Shooting Star Emilio Sakraya, was released in fall 2022 with huge box office success.
SELECTED FILMOGRAPHY
2022 RHINEGOLD
2019 DER GOLDENE HANDSCHUH
2017 IN THE FADE
2016 GOODBYE BERLIN
2014 THE CUT
2012 GARBAGE IN THE GARDEN OF EDEN
2009 SOUL KITCHEN
Alexander Hacke
Baba Zula
Orient Expressions
Duman
Replikas
Director: Fatih Akin
Writer: Fatih Akin
Director of photography: Hervé Dieu
Editor: Andrew Bird
Sound: Lothar Niehaus
Composer: Alexander Hacke
Producer: Fatih Akin, Klaus Maeck, Andreas Thiel, Sandra Harzer-Kux, Christian Kux
Co-producer: Norddeutscher Rundfunk
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
Original capture format: 35 mm
Exhibition format: DCP
Resolution: 4K
Sound Format: 5. 1
Languages: Turkish, English, German, Kurdish
Existing subtitles: English, German, French